YOUNG GAMBIAN POLITICIAN AHMAD CEESAY DECLARES ‘RUNNING FOR OFFICE IS INEVITABLE’
By Yomi Oyelami, Trek Africa Newspaper
L-R: Gambia Young Politician, Ahmad M. Ceesay and President Adama Barrow, President of The Gambia
• As The Gambia receives 37,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines the same day as Nigeria’s 3.92 million doses
Young politician and member of the United Democratic Party (UDP) in The Gambia, Ahmad M. Ceesay has disclosed that for him, running for political office is a priority because African youths can no longer afford to leave leadership to the incompetent. ‘Let’s say in four years time. As far as we are in politics, running for office is inevitable, be it at party level or at national level.’ He made this assertion in #Reminisense the TweetChat series, a weekly virtual conversation with Abayomi Oyelami on popular microblogging platform, Twitter yesterday.
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, the Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO)
The fellow of Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) finds home in the United Democratic Party (UDP) which produced the youngest Mayor in the country, the Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council, Talib Ahmad Bensouda who has transformed the council and the youngest Secretary-General of any party in the Gambia and a legislator in the Kanifing Municipal Council, Hon. Kemo Bojang. Mr. Ceesay believes that with the strong followership of the party, more youths will be able to find expression to their political ambition. He called for more sensitization to enlighten the masses on the importance of political participation. It is worthy of note that the United Democratic Party (UDP) is the biggest party in The Gambia having 31 out of 53 seats in the Parliament and 7 out of 8 municipal councils in the country.
TALIB AHMED BENSOUDA, the Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council
In the same vein, Hon. Kemo Bojang who is a Washington Mandela Fellow under the YALI program complemented the message of Mr. Ceesay to youths when he stated ‘if we don’t serve, it is the incompetent that will step in and ruin our future.’ The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is the signature effort to invest in the next generation of leaders launched by the 44th and first Black President of the United States, Barack H. Obama in 2010.
COVID-19 GLOBAL VACCINE ACCESS abbreviated as COVAX INITIATIVE
Meanwhile, while Nigeria took delivery of 3.92 million COVID-19 vaccines in the COVAX initiative supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), GAVI the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) yesterday, The Gambia also received 37,000 doses. It is expected that more African countries will follow suit in the coming days with Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire being the first countries in Africa to receive the COVAX-funded vaccines. The host of the virtual chat series, Abayomi Oyelami praised the Director-General of World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for providing astute leadership in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
